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Welcome to the World of Sigurd Olson

Sigurd F. Olson sitting in front of his cabin. (photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt)

Sigurd Olson created Listening Point, a rugged northern Minnesota property on Burntside Lake near Ely, Minnesota, in 1956 as a private retreat. It became widely known and celebrated after Alfred Knopf published Sig’s book, Listening Point, in 1958.

The Listening Point Foundation, Inc., owns and cares for the property at Listening Point, the Olson family home and “writing shack” in Ely, and conducts visits for the interested public.

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Quotes from Sig

The movement of a canoe is like a reed in the wind. Silence is part of it, and the sounds of lapping water, bird songs, and wind in the trees. It is part of the medium through which it floats, the sky, the water, the shores.
~ The Singing Wilderness, 77